After getting eliminated from the ongoing NBA tournament, the Los Angeles Lakers made the big decision to cut ties with head coach Darvin Ham. This marked the fourth coach that had exited the team in a span of 10 years. In the aftermath of this significant change, the search is now on for a trainer who can be associated with the franchise for a longer duration. Since the past few days, many former head coaches and current assistant coaches have been placed as potential candidates for the top job. None of them, however, is gaining as much traction as former Orlando Magic player JJ Redick.

A few hours ago, renowned Fox Sports 1 contributor Colin Cowherd released another podcast episode. With fellow sports media personality Jason Timpf joining in as co-host, the duo touched upon just how much of a chance JJ Redick possesses of becoming Darvin Ham’s replacement. After all, he has zero coaching experience to his name, unlike all the other candidates. However, he has spent over half a decade serving as an ESPN Analyst and sometimes appearing as a contributor on Fox Sports 1. Looking at the insights that he has provided in each of his appearances, Cowherd believes that this individual’s basketball IQ allows him to be at least a worthy contender.

To further elaborate on his example, the host highlighted a commencement speech that famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld made at Duke, which also is Redick’s alma mater. “He (Seinfeld) said ‘Having stuff is nice. Becoming something is really more important. And becoming something is ‘misses’, it’s ‘swings’, it’s an ‘Ascension’” said Cowherd.

By looking at a few other examples from his life, the host believes that any smart person, who inclines toward a particular industry, can learn while on the job. From Darvin Ham to Frank Vogel, all previous head coaches are people who learned the essential aspects after having been given the post.

Redick is someone who knows basketball. After all, he devoted over 15 years of his life to serving as a player in the big league. Furthermore, he is someone who gets along well with members of the Lakers’ roster, especially with lead scorer LeBron James. According to Cowherd, this makes him a worthwhile prospect, regardless of a lack of coaching experience. “I think everybody would buy into JJ Redick,” said Cowherd.

NFL Legend Shannon Sharpe believes that JJ Redick’s lack of experience is holding him back

Colin Cowherd’s viewpoint is something that holds its own standard of merit. However, it is also an opinion that other NBA analysts would not choose to align themselves with. For them, having prior experience is a necessity to lead a franchise like the Los Angeles Lakers. A franchise that has won over 17 NBA championships since 1949 and continues to remain one of the most popular ones. One such analyst who recently made his voice heard is three-time Super Bowl Champion Shannon Sharpe.

During the recent episode of his ‘Nightcap’ podcast, Sharpe talked about the journey that other renowned coaches had to undertake before getting to the main post. He highlighted how Darvin Ham worked as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks and how NFL star DeMeco Ryans was a ‘defensive coordinator’ before becoming head coach of the Houston Texans. At the same time, people with a similar portfolio as Redick ended up in different positions.

“We’re talking about a guy… what they did for Matt Millen,” said Sharpe. “Matt Millen was calling games and they gave him a general manager job. Same thing they did with John Lynch. John Lynch was calling games for Fox and they gave him a GM job. So we’re talking about a person (Redick) that didn’t have any coaching experience.”

Even though JJ Redick has revealed no desire till now to become or officially spoken about the Lakers head coach, his potential candidacy has caused the NBA world to hold contrasting opinions. With the LA side set to conduct interviews with potential candidates in the next few days, it remains to be seen whether the team management emphasizes experience or not.